Austin ISD PK3 Newsletter

June 2016

Austin ISD PK3 Newsletter

June 2016

From the Director

Happy Summer!

Hooray! You made it. Summer is here. I know this time of year is bittersweet. We are so sad to see our children leave, but so ready for summer! I hope this newsletter finds you in great spirits!

The newsletter this month contains items about summer training and things you need to know for next year. So if you want to read it later in June, it will be fine.

I want to say THANK YOU for all of the things, large and small, that you have done for our district, your campus, your class and your parents this year. When I think about the impact that you are making, one child at a time, I am so proud to work with you! Thanks for allowing us to support you.

We will send you another newsletter to mark the beginning of the year in August, but until then, be safe, take great care of yourself and have a great summer!

News & Information

CIRCLE PROGRESS MONITORING SYSTEM CHANGES!!

PK3 teachers will still be using the Engage platform to assess students on the CIRCLE PMS (Progress Monitoring System). However, next year the testing windows will only be 3 weeks instead of 5 weeks. This is the direction we have received from the state at this point. If anything changes between now and the beginning of school, we will let you know.

See below for more assessment information for next year.

Welcome New PK3 Classrooms!

We are happy to welcome 13 new PK3 campuses to our AISD Early Childhood family!

Teacher Wellbeing: How to mentally prepare for a new school year

To help you get ready for a new school year, psychologist Gail Kinman, offers advice on how to prepare and how to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Gail writes for The Gaurdian.

A couple of weeks before a new school year:

Ask yourself how you feel -Some people dread going back to work, while others are excited. Asking yourself how you feel about the job will help you decide whether you need to take action and, if so, what that action should be. If you feel dread, what stresses you out and what can you do about it?

Reflect on the way you work -If you usually do lesson preparation late at night and miss out on social life or sleep, think about whether there are ways of managing your workload. Perhaps, take the opportunity to talk to your administrator about it.

Listen to your body - Recover beforethe school year starts by spending time listening to your body and what it needs. Go and see friends and family, exercise, eat your favorite foods or read - whatever activities work for you.

Try mindfulness techniques - A great way to relax and prepare for the next school year is through mindfulness techniques.

Build up your emotional resilience - Resilience is essential for teachers. Teaching can be stressful. One of the best ways to build resilience and avoid stress is to get support from other people. Spend time with friends and family.

Get your work-life balance right - Start thinking about ways that you can divide your work life and home life because teachers commonly work a lot at home. Make sure that you allow yourself time to relax after work as this is essential to maintain long-term physical and psychological health. There is evidence that if teachers go straight to bed after working at night, they don’t sleep as well, which impacts on their health and job performance.

Do a bit of work (yes, really) - Doing some preparation can help you feel in control and less panicky.

Rehearse saying no - Rehearsing what you would do in challenging situations can be helpful. If you go over how a situation could pan out in your mind then you are more likely to feel in control when it arises.

Get to know yourself and how you feel - If you are notsure about how you feel about your job then write down some specific “emotion words” that come to mind when you think about work. If they are stress-related, then how can you make things better? Feeling very negative about returning to work after the summer rather than rejuvenated may indicate that you need a job change.

Enjoy your summer off!

Summer Reading

The Power of Guidance: Teaching Social-Emotional Skills In the Early Childhood Classroom by Dan Gartrell

The Power of Guidance: Teaching Social-Emotional Skills In the Early Childhood Classroom is a collection of well-received writings on how to use guidance in early childhood classrooms. The material teaches strategies for developing an encouraging classroom and for working with children, particularly boys, who have moderate and serious conflicts. It also presents non-punitive approaches to classroom management. Those who will find the most value in this compilation of material on guidance are practitioners in the field, including Head Start teachers, childcare teachers and preschool and primary grade teachers and assistants.

Let's Visit This Summer

I work all summer, with the exception of some vacation days during the week of July 4th and some days away to visit family. Other than those days I will be at work. If you would like to debrief, talk, ask questions, share this year's successes, and/or plan for next year please contact me! I will look forward to hearing from you!

It has been an awesome year and I am very proud to be part of the PK3 Early Childhood team!! ~ Robbie

Looking Ahead!

Although we encourage you to relax and take a break from school stuff, we know there are some of you out there who like to get started a little early.

Here are some PK3 Pinterest links that might be helpful for the beginning of the year. Remember that not all of the activities on Pinterest are appropriate for three year old students, so we have worked to find activities that you can use. Enjoy!